Blog Assignment 4

After reading “For More Pianos, Last Note is Thud in theDump,” by Daniel Wakin, and watching the video content that went along with the story, I was very pleased with the product.  It is an interesting story in text- pianos on death row after expiring and being replaced by the more affordable, fixable digital pianos that don’t need nearly as much caretaking. The article points out that thousands of pianos are going to their graveyard, and now, piano-movers find themselves moving anywhere between five and ten pianos a month, to the dump!

The text of the article summarizes that perhaps the economy is to blame for the pianos demise. People no longer can afford to furnish their homes with such magnificent pieces of entertainment in world where nearly every source of entertainment, even pianos themselves, and be made digital. Or perhaps it is cuts in musical education within schools, or the feel of competition in other subjects that distract from the very historical practice of learning music.

However, I don’t think the article would be nearly as interesting without the video footage. We see pianos smashed in pieces, we hear the trucks backing-up into the dump to drop pianos at their final resting place, and we hear someone speaking about the tragedy of it all while soft music plays in the background. The video is very nostalgic, and it seemed to me more like a reminder of the beauty of the past rather than the amazing progression digitalization has had over the past few decades.

The video focuses on Bryan O’Mara’s job- to deliver pianos to the dump. What I like most about the video is the soft piano music that plays in the background, while still hearing the crushing wood of pianos inside a construction truck. I found the video to be very well conducted. I think having O’Mara’s interview, soft piano music, and the sounds of trucks delivering and crushing pianos as the only audio sounds in the video, makes the article come to life.

The article puts into text a brief history of the popularity of pianos centuries ago, and how pianos were basically a necessity for entertainment in many homes. The article then tells how pianos are becoming more digital because they are cheaper to manufacture and don’t need as much caretaking or restoration as older pianos. Because of the thousands of moving parts, pianos are expensive to repair and finding a laborer for the job can be just as difficult. This was the main theme I saw in the article, but I don’t think it is possible to write an eye-catching story about music or instruments unless the story is accompanied by noise. Here is where I think the audio in the video is most important. I watched the movie after I read the article, and I was able to get a feel for just how sad this story actually is. It is not about the progression of affordable music making, but rather the sad death to a musical classic.

The video was effective because it puts the text of the article into a reality, and the package as a whole is very compelling. In this sense, I really like that the video shows pianos going to their graveyard as slow piano tunes play with the crushing noises of their destruction. Additionally, the package as a whole was effective. Without the text, I would just think few pianos go to the dump yearly and that they are still a beautiful furnishing to a home. The text makes the reader realize the magnitude of the issue behind the story.